Skye the Little Flower (Edited)
by TheStarEvangeline
Summary: When a strange 0-8-4 leads to Skye, Jemma, Leo, and Grant being de-aged, it's left to Melinda and Phil to take care of them until SHIELD can reverse the effects. Childhood secrets come to light, new friendships are formed, and new hope for a better family rises like a phoenix, reborn from a life of tragedy. What else is family for?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N If you already read the other version feel free to skip to like, Chapters 9-10-ish. That's where the changes are.**

Everything on the BUS seemed pretty normal, or, at least as normal as it can be for people who live on a plane and investigate alien crap. The team had just received a new order from Director Fury: to investigate a strange machine found in the basement of an orphanage.

"So, Skye, we have some news for you…" Agent Phil Coulson, the leader of the team, began slowly.

"You sound nervous," Skye, the resident hacker, observed.

"We have to go back to Saint Agnes!" Leopold Fitz, the mechanic, blurted.

"What?" Skye hissed, her eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Well, Director Fury received a call from a nervous neighbor, who was curious about the kids being dazed, almost hypnotized. He went over to investigate, just to make sure everyone was okay, when he saw a blue light coming from underneath the basement door. What he found down there was… disturbing to say the least," Jemma Simmons, the biochemist, explained.

"What did he find? What did Sister Mary do to the kids?" Skye demanded.

"What makes you think it was Sister Mary?" Jemma asked curiously.

"Because she's a nightmare. She screams, kicks, and punches. If there's anyone there that would hurt us- them- it's her," Skye spat.

"Us?" Ward, Skye's S.O and the team specialist, put in.

"I corrected myself. I don't live there anymore. When do we leave, AC?" Skye asked, bracing herself.

"Now," Melinda May, the pilot, answered. "Wheels up in two! Everyone buckle up!" She called over her shoulder as she left to go to the cockpit.

"Lovely," Skye sighed. "Just _lovely_."

* * *

When they pulled up to the two story stone building, everyone on the team had to admit, they were curious. Not only about the 0-8-4, but also what Skye was like when she was a little girl, what her life was like. She wasn't by any means 'talkative' about her childhood, keeping everything pent up, like a robot.

"Let's get this over with," Skye muttered, getting out of the black car with the SHIELD logo on it. They were about to knock on the door, but it was opened right before Coulson knocked on the elderly woman's scowling face.

"Sorry," He apologized sheepishly.

"Who are- Mary Sue?" The woman demanded.

"Call me that, and I'll erase you from existence, literally and metaphorically, myself," Skye threatened.

"Oh dear heavens, what has she done now?" The woman asked, rubbing her temples.

"For once, despite being surrounded by government agents, I was in no way responsible for anything. You on the other hand," Skye replied, gesturing to her, "I can't speak for."

"Sorry to interrupt," Fitz coughed, not looking even remotely sorry, "but I believe introductions are in order?"

"Oh, yes. I am Sister Mary. What can I help you with?"

"We're with SHIELD, here to investigate the 0-8-4 that was discovered in your basement a few days ago," Coulson explained.

"Ah, yes, follow me. Mary Sue, there are some children that wish to see you again, for reasons unknown," Sister Mary said, ignoring Skye's glare and previous threat.

"If anything goes wrong, I'll be in the living room," Skye whispered. When they walked by and saw Skye enter, all the other kids looked at her like she was God, in pure awe and amazement.

"Skye!" A little girl screamed, running across the room and launching herself into the hacker's open arms, making her laugh as she picked her up and spun her around.

"Hey Lulu," Skye said, tickling the girl's stomach. Her team was shocked at the open display of affection. Skye wasn't a hugger, in fact, she _hated_ any form of physical contact. The first time FitzSimmons tried to give her a high five she _flinched_. They all turned their focus back to the impatient nun. They all followed her into the basement, keeping their eyes trained on any possible threat.

"Here we are," Sister Mary announced when she stopped in front of another door. "This is where the man found it. The circumstances of which he found it however were… less than ideal."

"How so?" Coulson inquired.

"Well, before the police contacted you, they looked around. They found him, but he was… different. Didn't talk at all. He became mute. It was like he lost all communication skills. His mind, it almost _regressed_ somehow."

"I beg your pardon?" Simmons said, trying to remain calm.

"I don't know how to explain it. It was God, punishing him."

"Er, punishing him for _what_?" Ward demanded.

"I do not know. That is between his lost soul and the Father." Sister Mary shrugged. "But I must warn you… we do not know how to stop it, therefore one of you may get hurt," She warned.

"Skye said you were a monster," Fitz mumbled.

"Yes, well… Mary Sue-"

"Skye, Sister. Her name is Skye," Coulson interrupted.

"Yes, _Skye_ ," she paused disdainfully, "she was never one to be controlled. She was never violent, but she was dangerous, so to speak."

"Skye?" Ward asked.

"Yes. She was unpredictable, running off or hiding. It was nearly impossible to know where she was the majority of the time. She was playing a never ending game of hide and seek."

"So that makes her dangerous?" Jemma frowned.

"Not that. I don't know what she went through, but there were periods of time where she lashed out at anyone who approached her. She would scream, never cry, though, even as an infant, and kick with all her power. For someone so small, she certainly had a lot of strength." She pursed her lips. "But this is not about Mary- Sorry, _Skye_ ," she corrected.

"You're right." Coulson agreed.

"What's not about me?" Skye asked, rounding the corner.

"How did you know where this was?" Sister Mary demanded.

"Well, you just said it yourself," Skye explained nonchalantly. " _She was playing a never ending game of hide and seek_ ," she repeated. "Where do you think I hid?"

"You hid in the basement? It was always off limits!"

"Yeah, I know. Why do you think I was down here?" Skye laughed.

"I hate you," Sister Mary replied.

"Okay, I believe now we should intercede before things escalate," Jemma interrupted.

"Right, sorry. Let's do this." Skye sighed. When they opened the door, they saw it: it was just a simple wooden box, closed tightly. Almost like a jewelry box, with the drawers and everything. But Skye noticed something as she approached it; it had designs on it, that were pulsing and glowing blue and white. "AC, this thing is- whoa!" The thing opened, revealing a ballerina statuette, dancing along to the music. Out of nowhere, a blinding white light shoots out of it, encasing Skye. When the light passed, everyone gasped. In Skye's place sat a small four year old girl, staring wide eyed at her surroundings. She blinked, shook her head, and turned around to face the shocked nun.

"Skye?"

"Sister, is it almost time for lunch?" She asked. Or at least that's what everyone thought she said, but it was hard to tell since it was barely above a whisper.

"Skye?" Coulson asked cautiously, recalling what Sister Mary had said earlier about Skye lashing out.

"Who are you?" She scowled.

"You don't remember us?" Jemma asked sadly.

"No. You look familiar, but it's all pretty vague." She whimpered. "Where's Sister Katherine?" She whispered.

"She's dead, Skye. I'm sorry." Sister Mary explained soothingly.

"Then where's Miles? What did you do to my best friend?" She glared accusingly.

"Miles?" Fitz asked Sister Mary curiously.

"When they were younger, Miles was her protector. A guardian angel, so to speak. What are you going to do with her?"

"We'll take her with us on the BUS. See what the Director has to say. In the meantime, FitzSimmons, do your thing," Coulson said.

"Box it. Right away, sir." Jemma agreed.

"Before you go, Agent Coulson, I believe I may have something helpful to you," Sister Mary said, gesturing him to follow.

"Sister, where is the lunchroom?" A little girl, no older than three, asked the nun.

"Sister Grace, would you come here?" Sister Mary called.

"Yes, Mother Superior?" Sister Grace, a woman in her early to mid twenties, asked cautiously as she approached.

"Would you please take the little one to the lunchroom. She's lost her way, it seems."

"Yes, Mother Superior," Sister Grace said, bowing her head respectfully.

"Come," Sister Mary resumed walking, leading him to her office. She began rummaging through a cabinet, before pulling out a thick manila folder.

"What is it?" Coulson asked.

"Her file. Every report, foster home, mental assessment, and doctor's appointment, it's all documented in that folder. She was always gifted with technology, most likely thanks to Miles, so we had to take precautions. With Skye, she could easily hack the system and erase everything by the age of seven," she explained. "Please, she is fragile and delicate. She is glass, she has already been cracked, to the point where she most likely cannot be mended. I'm disappointed and ashamed to admit it, but I myself may have added a few extra cracks. I was unkind to her, and now she is unfixable." She sighed before rounding the desk and walking up to him, taking his hands in her own, wrinkled and calloused. "Be careful. The little flower is delicate. Good luck, Agent Coulson. If necessary, we still have some old clothes she can wear for the time being."

"Thank you, Sister," Coulson said gratefully.

"But I warn you now, Agent Coulson: when it is bath time, she becomes a demon," she shivered. "I recommend to whatever poor soul is being punished to wear a bathing suit," The elderly woman advised.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Everything you may need to care for her is in that folder. I send you off with one final warning: she is deathly afraid of the dark. Keep the light on, or she will turn into a caged dog. She needs sleep, something that she did not get much of in her youth, I'm afraid."

"Thank you, Sister," Coulson repeated.

"Sir, we're ready to go," Jemma informed him.

"Thank you-" Coulson was interrupted by little Skye thrashing in Agent May's arms. Standing next to him was Ward, holding an ice pack to his face.

"You weren't kidding when you said she had a good punch," he said to the wide eyed nun, grimacing.

"I was not," she agreed. She walked over to Agent May. "Good luck, little flower," she whispered, walking away. Skye stopped thrashing, and May sighed in relief. Instead, Skye just sniffed, trying to hold back tears.

"Where's Miles?" The scared little girl whimpered.

"We'll find him," Coulson promised.

"Okay."

"Do some research when we get back to the BUS, Simmons," Coulson whispered as he walked past the biochemist.

"Yes, sir." She nodded. Fitz slowed down so she could catch up to him, and they started whispering to each other, most likely theories about the white light, or sciencey things no one else, especially not Coulson, would understand.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, come on, Skye," May urged.

"I don't wanna." Skye shook her head.

"What is she refusing to do now?" Coulson sighed.

"Get on the BUS," May answered. "She won't let anyone touch her. I'm hoping her files may shed some light on her… condition."

"Agreed. We'll review it when we get her inside."

"Phil, are you sure this is a good idea?" May asked.

"No. But we need to help her. This is her chance to be happy, Melinda. To laugh, watch Disney movies, play, and have people who _love_ her. I can promise you, she didn't get much of that the first time around. Though it appears that she remembers everything up until her fifteenth birthday. Simmons is doing a psych evaluation as we speak."

"But I couldn't even get-"

"Look," he whispered, gesturing past the black car and Lola to the lab where FitzSimmons were talking to her, comforting her as she cried silently.

"Alright then, looks like we're really giving this a shot," she mumbled to herself as she walked into the lab, where Coulson had set down a duffel bag on the floor next to the Holo-Table. He opened it, shifting through the bag.

"Here we go!" He shouted triumphantly, lifting a small brown bear above his head. The loud noise made Skye cover her ears and whimper, until she saw the stuffed bear Coulson was holding.

"Bear," she giggled.

"Bear," Coulson confirmed.

'It's teddy!" Skye squealed.

"It is," Coulson said. Skye reached out, making grabby hands, showing that she wanted to hold it. He gave it to her, and she hugged it with all her strength.

"She was so cute," Simmons whispered to Fitz, who nodded in agreement.

"Skye probably would have said _What do you mean was? I'm still cute!_ " Fitz chuckled.

"Or, _I'm awesome, and I am a gift from God! I always have been and always will be 'cute'!_ " Simmons and Fitz laughed again.

"Okay, Skye. I need you to do me a favour," Fitz said calmly. The little girl turned to him, staring expectantly.

"What?" She asked quietly.

"I need you to sit still while I draw some blood."

"It will only feel like you're being poked, and then it will be all better! We'll give you a lollipop if you behave," Simmons bribed.

"Okay," Skye shrugged. "It can't hurt worse than being burned." Fitz almost dropped the needle when she said that. It was scary how calmly she had said that, as though she had actually _experienced_ being burned.

"Did someone burn you?" May asked quietly.

"It's all in the folder thingy. It has everything about me in it, doesn't it? Even all the naughty things that Mother Superior blamed on me."

" _Blamed_?" May demanded. Skye flinched.

"Did I do something bad?" Skye whispered sadly.

"No, Skye. You didn't do anything wrong. May is just upset about something. Isn't that right, Agent May?" Simmons asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Skye. I didn't mean to scare you. None of us will hurt you."

"Okay."

"Done!" Fitz said cheerfully. As promised, Simmons handed her a red lollipop.

"Yay!" She giggled, taking it from Simmons' hand. "Thank you!"

"You are most welcome," Simmons said kindly. Skye had been sitting on the counter in FitzSimmons' lab, so when Fitz went to lift her up to set her back down on the floor, Skye freaked out.

"No, I'll be good, I promise! I'm sorry!" She wailed.

"Oops," Fitz muttered.

Coulson panicked and started going through the bag. He found a small plastic bag with a note inside, along with… a pacifier?

 _Agent Coulson,_

 _She has not used this in a very long time, but it helps calm her down in the event of an anxiety attack. Just put it in her mouth and she will calm down. It also helps her sleep at night._

 _Yours Truly,_

 _Mother Superior_

"Here we go," he mumbled. He took the pacifier out of the bag and put it in Skye's mouth. She yawned. She reached out to Simmons, making grabby hands as though she wanted to be picked up. Simmons walked towards her cautiously, and when she finally reached her destination, carefully lifted the sleepy little girl up and rested her on her hip. She put her head on Simmons' shoulder and almost instantly fell asleep.

"Okay, so should I just put her in her bunk?" Simmons asked quietly.

"Yeah, but leave a light on," Coulson replied.

"Got it." Simmons said nodded before disappearing up the spiral staircase.


	3. Chapter 3

After Simmons had come out of Skye's bunk, it turns out she had made a grave mistake: she had turned the light off.

Everyone was peacefully eating their dinner in the kitchen when May heard it; the screams and sobs of a little girl.

"Simmons, did you turn off the light?" May demanded.

"Oh, God! I did!" Simmons exclaimed, rushing out of her chair. However, she didn't have to go far, since the little girl had ran out of her bunk and into the kitchen. She was screaming and crying uncontrollably. When she had come in, she ran to someone unexpected: she ran to Ward.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She repeated over and over.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Skye," Simmons said gently as she approached the small child.

"I-I didn't?" She sniffed.

"What were you dreaming about, Skye?" May asked.

"The Bennetts," she explained. "There was another person in there with me- a girl named Giavanna." She paused. "I tried to help her, but I- I was too late!" She cried.

"Simmons, if you would?" Coulson looked at the young woman expectantly.

"Happy to, sir," Simmons said, nodding as she got up. Not even ten minutes later, she came back. By then, Skye had calmed down, only the occasional whimper. In her hand was a manila folder.

"What's that?" Skye asked, her nightmare forgotten.

"This is Giavanna," Simmons explained, opening the folder. In the folder was three pictures and a few documents.

"See, Skye? You did save her." Coulson took the picture and showed it to her. In the picture was a six year old girl, covered in burns, dirt, and dust. The next picture was of Skye. Everyone gagged simultaneously. She was about eleven, looking worse than Giovanna. She was as thin as a twig, and pale as a sheet of paper. Her hair was matted down, blood was dripping down her face and arms, and she was covered in burns.

"Oh my god," Fitz whispered. The last picture was Giavanna, Gia Cameron then, at seventeen years old. She was getting into a red Maserati Ghibli, wearing a black leather jacket, blood red lipstick, and looking overall badass.

"That's Gigi?" Skye asked in amazement.

"It is," Simmons confirmed. "In fact, I spoke to her." Skye's eyes lit up. "And it seems that she wants to talk to you!" Simmons took out her phone, dialled a number, pressed call, and handed the phone over to Skye.

" _Hey, Simmons, what do you need?"_

" _Gigi!"_

" _Skye, is that you?"_

" _Yep, it is!"_

" _You sound… younger."_

" _I am. Didn't mama explain to you?"_ Jemma choked.

"Mama?" She mouthed to Fitz, who shrugged.

" _Oh, right! You got de-aged. How's that going?"_

" _Awesome, can't you tell?"_

" _Glad to see that you still have your sense of humour."_

" _Did I really save you?"_

" _Yes, Skye. I owe my life to you. We both made it, and the Bennetts are in jail. They can't hurt anyone anymore. We're safe, thanks to you!"_

" _They're never getting out?"_

" _Nope. They've lost custody of their kids, and they can't ever get out. It's almost 10, Skye. You should get to bed. Sleep well, little flower."_ And then, she hung up. **(AN: You can read this conversation from Gia's point of view in my book on Wattpad,** _ **Stronger Together**_ **)**

"Do you want to try to go back to sleep now?" Simmons asked.

"Yeah. I'm tired." She yawned.

"If you need anything, Fitz's bunk is right next to yours. I'm the next one after that. Come on, Skye. Let's get you into your pajamas and back to bed." She lifted Skye off of Ward's lap, who sighed in relief. They disappeared out of everyone's view.

"This girl looks familiar," May said.

"Yeah, no kidding- wait, I know where I've seen her!" Fitz exclaimed.

"Where?" Coulson asked.

"On the news!" He replied excitedly. "She's one of the leaders of the gang _Combat Eighteen_!"

"She grew up to start a gang?" Ward asked.

"Yeah!"

"I'm pretty sure I worked with her once. I was trying to find a guy, Mateo or something. She helped me find him," May remembered.

"Cool," Ward said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think we should follow in Skye's footsteps. It's been a long day," Simmons said tiredly.

"Yep. Everyone get some rest. Tomorrow's a new day!" Coulson exclaimed.

"G'night everyone," Fitz said.

"Night. See you all in the morning!" Simmons said as she walked out, heading towards her bunk. Everyone went their separate ways, turned out the light, and encased the large plane in a layer of silence, something that would be disrupted by sunrise.


	4. Chapter 4

As morning rolled around, Melinda May was already awake. At only 5:30 in the morning, the pilot was wide awake. She was in the training area practicing Tai Chi, enjoying the quiet that was surely going to be interrupted in only two or so hours. However, the peace was disturbed by footsteps coming down the spiral staircase.

"Phil?" She called. She was surprised to see Skye, still holding her stuffed bear, coming to a stop at the edge of the mat. "What are you doing up so early?" Skye was usually out of bed at nine or ten, sometimes even noon if Ward let her sleep in.

"I don't sleep much." Skye shrugged.

"But you _love_ sleeping," May said.

"Nope," Skye said cheerfully, popping the P at the end. She sat down at the corner of the mat, staring at May expectantly.

"What?" May asked.

"What was I like? Y'know, when I was older?"

"You were a hacker, and a damn good one. I have to admit, Skye, you keep surprising us." She looked at May oddly.

"I was a hacker?"

"For the Rising Tide."

"What's the Rising Tide?" Skye wondered.

"A group of people that hack SHIELD," May explained.

"So if I was in the Rising Tide, why do I work at SHIELD?"

"I don't know."

"Did I talk much about… y'know… my childhood?"

"No. You were almost as bad as Ward, you kept everything bottled up That can be very dangerous, Skye," May warned. "I should know. I speak from experience."

"So everything in that file was-"

"New to us. You hacked into every database in the world and erased any information on you and your identity. You erased yourself from existence, and you became a ghost," May said.

"A ghost," Skye repeated. She frowned. "So I don't exist?"

"According to the rest of the world, no. You don't," May confirmed.

"What was Bahrain?" Skye asked curiously.

"Where did you hear that?" May demanded.

"I- I saw a video in the SHIELD database. I'm sorry!" Skye sobbed.

"Shit," May mumbled. "Did you read the full report?" May pressed.

"I can't read," Skye sniffled. She started rocking back and forth, her stuffed bear forgotten beside her, with her hands over her ears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She repeated. "I didn't do it! It wasn't my fault! DON'T TOUCH HER!" She screamed. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" She wailed. May looked around, trying to find a way to calm her down.

"Wha's goin' on?" A voice mumbled tiredly. Down the stairs came a little girl, seven or so years old. May and Skye were already accounted for-

"Simmons?" May choked.

"Who are you?" Little Simmons demanded.

"I'm Melinda May," The pilot frowned.

"Oh. Okay." Jemma shrugged, not caring. Then Fitz came down stairs. He looked about nine, wearing the same clothes he had gone to bed in, but now they were bigger. Much bigger. "Leo!" Jemma exclaimed, rushing forward. She ran into his arms. Skye cried harder and louder.

"What's wrong with her?" Fitz asked casually, pointing to Skye.

"Leo, that's very rude!" Jemma scolded. She bent down to reach Skye. "Are you alright?" She asked, her voice so soft and sweet that it calmed even Fitz down, and he wasn't even panicking. Next came Coulson. May sighed in relief after finding that he was the same age as when he had gotten into bed.

"Oh thank God," May muttered.

"What the he-" Coulson looked around at the three small kids, staring at him expectantly, "heck," he finished."

Phil what's going on?" May demanded.

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm going to go call Fury. You go find Ward."

"What about these three?"

"Stick them in front of the TV or something," Coulson shrugged. He walked up the spiral stairs until he eventually vanished from May's sight. She looked around at the little kids, who were staring at her.

"Damn it, Phil."


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, so what do you guys want to watch?" May asked, standing in front of the tv.

"Ooh, can we watch Kim Possible?" Fitz asked excitedly.

"No, I want to watch Thomas the Train," Simmons argued.

"What about you, Skye?" She turned to the little girl behind her, who was peacefully sitting on the couch playing with her bear.

"Whatever they agree on is fine," Skye answered, shrugging.

"Okay, how about you two decide on what to watch, and I go find Ward?" May said.

"Okay!" FitzSimmons replied cheerfully.

"It's even creepier when they're kids," May mumbled as she left.

"Ward, where are you?" May called out, hoping to find the specialist at the age he went to bed at the night before.

"Who are you?" A six year old boy shouted fearfully.

"Relax, Ward. I'm Agent May. You're on a plane, called the BUS, and you are away from your parents and your brothers. You're safe," May explained calmingly. Ward sighed.

"I'm safe?" He asked hopefully.

"No one on this plane will hurt you," May two paused at the sound of shouting. "Oh god, FitzSimmons," May muttered, rubbing her temples. She walked out to the lounge area with Ward in tow.

"Fitz threw the remote at me!" Simmons shouted, pointing accusingly at the confused mechanic.

"I didn't!" He shouted back. The two were interrupted by crying, coming from the four-year-old girl on the couch. Skye hopped off the couch and ran to May. She stopped at the middle aged woman and lifted her arms up, showing that she wanted to be picked up. May leaned down and picked up the still crying little girl. May looked flatly at FitzSimmons, who were both looking at the floor guiltily.

"Sorry," Simmons mumbled.

"We didn't mean to scare her," Fitz finished quietly.

"Please, you have to be quiet around her, you know how easy she scares," May said, still holding the trembling young hacker.

"Who are they?" Ward gestured to the two kids, hiding behind May and wrapping his arm around her leg.

"FitzSimmons, this is Grant Ward. He's sensitive too, so you have to be gentle," May warned. Ward came out from behind May's leg.

"Hi Grant!" Simmons said happily, waving wildly. "I'm Jemma!"

"I'm Leo!" Fitz exclaimed.

"Hi," Ward mumbled shyly.

"Melinda, can I talk to you for a quick sec?" Coulson asked, peeking around the corner.

"Sure," May said, shrugging and setting down Skye. The little girl immediately walked over to Jemma, who started tickling her and giggling.

"What did Fury say?"

"There's a protocol for situations regarding children, but it doesn't meet the circumstance exactly," Coulson started.

"Phil, what are you so nervous about?" May asked irritably.

"Protocol YouthB30," he blurted. May narrowed her eyes.

"What?"

" _In the event of dealing with children during an investigation, the child(ren) are to be guarded personally by a SHIELD agent. In situations where the child(ren) are believed to be at risk in their current place of residence (home or otherwise), they will be taken into the custody of SHIELD until the end of the investigation. In varying situations, the child(ren) will be sent to live with a SHIELD agent and their family. If a family is not found in a two-day period, the charges will live in a home made up of two SHIELD agents, one male and one female, who will serve as the charge's guardians until the end of the investigation or on a permanent basis_ ," Coulson read from the tablet in his hand."

"So, what now?" May asked through pursed lips.

"I dunno. Fury said that the plane would be at a nearby airport, from the house provided by SHIELD," Coulson explained, shrugging.

"And what about food, clothes, toys?"

"SHIELD will give us money to cover all of those expenses." May nodded. The two rounded the corner, looking at the four kids; Skye was curled up in a ball, whimpering; FitzSimmons(though they'll probably have to start calling them Leo and Jemma) were asleep on the couch, snoring softly, and Grant was slumped over one of the chairs, dozing off. Skye heard them come in and, before even seeing who it was, cried and ran over to Grant, who lifted her up and put her on his lap, rocking back and forth gently. Coulson cleared his throat.

"Who here has been on a plane in the air before?" Coulson asked. He hoped that, by knowing if they understand what to expect, they won't be as scared during takeoff. They were going to have to drop off the 0-8-4 at the Sandbox along the way, before heading to Fremont NH where they were going to be staying with the kids.

"Okay, everyone buckle up!" May announced. Coulson woke up FitzSimmons and helped them buckle in and then went over to Grant and Skye to do the same. He quickly buckled in himself beside Grant and Skye, since they were the youngest. Skye's eyes were wide as she trembled in fear.

"I don't like planes!" She whimpered, covering her face with her hands.

"Why?" Coulson asked curiously.

"Wanted to push me out," she mumbled.

"Who did?"  
"Michael." Coulson reminded himself to look into this. Ward stared blankly at the wall. The plane shook gently before they flew off.

"I'm hungry," Fitz whined.

"Me too," Ward and Jemma added.

"What about you, Skye?" Coulson asked.

"Hmm?" She muttered, returning her focus to the concerned agent.

"Are you hungry?" He repeated. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm okay. I know how to not eat for days at a time." Coulson choked. Upon hearing this, FitzSimmons gasped.

"They starved you?" Fitz asked.

"Not all of them."

"Which ones, then?" Coulson demanded, trying to sound gentle.

"Bennetts, Graces, and the Haddocks," Skye listed. "The rest of them weren't awful, persay, but a lot of them were… less than pleasant, to say the least." She shrugged. Coulson was sad about two things; one was that all of these conversations, about the starvation, abuse, and neglect, they all came so easily to her, as though the concept was far from new, they all sounded so rehearsed. Not only that, but, even at the age of four, she sounded mature, as if she thought that she would be scolded- or even punished- for being childish. However, Coulson figured that the reason she acted as a child as an adult was because she had to be an adult as a child. Twenty minutes of silence later, May came out.

"The plane is on autopilot," she announced, sitting.

"Can we eat now?" Fitz whined again. "I'm hungry!" He pouted.

Coulson sighed. "Off to the kitchen we go!" The kids cheered as he led them into the kitchen, and they all sat around the table. "What do you want to eat?"

"Peanut butter!" Jemma exclaimed.

"And what else?" Coulson asked.

"Well, bread I suppose." She shrugged.

"Jelly?"

"Okay!" She said cheerfully.

What else?" Coulson asked the rest of the group. Ward and Fitz agreed happily, while Skye sat there blankly.

"Skye?" Ward asked softly. She shook her head.

"What?"

"Do you want peanut butter and jelly?" He offered.

"Sure. I'll eat anything." She shrugged. "You never know when you'll eat next. Best to fill up while you can, even if the food is yucky." Coulson dropped the knife into the sink, before making a mental note to read her file more carefully at the next opportunity. He grimaced and forced himself to continue making the food.

"Here ya go, little lady!" Coulson laughed, rubbing Jemma's hair as he set down her food.

"Thank you!" She smiled.

"And for you!" He handed Ward the plate.

"Thank you, Mister Coulson," he mumbled as he ate.

"And you," Coulson said to Fitz.

"Thank you, sir!"

"You are quite welcome!" And finally, he handed it to Skye.

"Thank you, sir," she said quietly. She ate slowly, taking small bites.

"You are very welcome, Skye," he said softly, smiling at the little girl sadly. It killed him to know that this was her mindset, even as young as four years old; sad, lonely, and afraid. He just hoped that, maybe this time around, he could do better, for all of them. They were his team, and he would do whatever it takes to keep them safe and happy. Because that's what family is for, isn't it?


	6. Chapter 6

When the BUS landed at the airport, May's first instinct was to say "Oh, God no!" because the first thing she saw was their family car (Coulson insisted that he be allowed to keep Lola): a blue 2017 Subaru Impreza.

"Please, no!" She whined, and then immediately grimaced. _I can't believe that I just… whined… like a toddler!_ The four kids immediately ran over to the car. The door opened, revealing a car seat for Skye and booster seats for the other three. Fitz and Jemma claimed the two in the back, leaving Ward up front beside Skye.

"Melinda, I'll meet you at the house. I'm taking Lola over," Coulson called over his shoulder, walking back onto the ramp of the BUS and getting into his car.

"Awesome," she deadpanned, looking at the four kids waiting impatiently in the car.

They arrived at the house, and May's eyes widened.

"Woah," Fitz said.

"Yep," Simmons agreed.

"Oh my god!" Ward exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Cool," Skye said flatly, playing with her bear, uninterested in the house in front of her. The five walked up the driveway and entered the unlocked house, nervous and excited to see what their new home would look like.

"Is that a Wii?!" Fitz shouted excitedly, rushing into the living room, Jemma following suit. Skye was holding Ward's hand, and together the two walked into the kitchen.

"Whoa," Skye breathed.

"It's _huge_ ," Ward said in amazement. Coulson entered the house and walked into the kitchen.

"So, what do you think?" Coulson asked the two kids.

"It's _massive_ ," Skye muttered. "I'm gonna need a tour guide or something."

"I think I'll join you," Ward agreed distractedly.

"Why don't you two check out your rooms?" Coulson suggested. "You can decorate it however you like."

"I get my own room?" Skye asked hopefully.

"Well, there are six rooms, so, yeah." Coulson replied.

"Wicked," Ward laughed.

"Come on, Grant!" Skye tugged on Ward's hand. The two walked out, before sheepishly walking back in.

"Where are our rooms, exactly?" Ward asked, blushing from embarrassment..

"End of the hall upstairs, to the right. Do you want me to show you?" Coulson offered helpfully.

"Yes, please," Skye mumbled.

"Okay, follow me," Coulson said. "Keep an eye on Leo and Fitz, would you?"

"Of course, Phil. Knowing those two, something will be covered in a science experiment or blown up by mid afternoon," Melinda joked. It was somewhat unlike her, but, for some reason, she was in a weirdly cheerful mood that day.

"Kay, thanks!" Coulson said over his shoulder as he left the room, the two impatient little kids following suit. May left the kitchen and came into the living room, where FitzSimmons were playing MarioKart on the Wii.

"No fair, Leo! You're cheating!" Jemma accused.

"How could you even cheat at Mario Kart?" Fitz demanded.

"If anyone could figure it out, it's you," Jemma said.

"Oh, thank you," Fitz laughed.

"That wasn't a compliment, Leo!" Jemma exclaimed, her face red with anger.

"I think it's quite flattering," Leo replied. Jemma groaned.

"Okay," May interrupted. "Why don't you two come with me, and I can show you your rooms," she suggested. FitzSimmons immediately agreed, all accusations completely forgotten. She led the two scientists up the stairway and down the hall, to the left. There were six rooms; it was decided that two of the four kids would be in each hallway along with one adult. Since FitzSimmons were best friends, the two would be side by side, with May right across the hall, in one of the two Master bedrooms. To the right was Skye and Grant, because the specialist seemed particularly protective of the young hacker, and Coulson was across the hall from them. It appeared that the two kids got along quite well with the man, and he would probably be more successful in comforting them after a nightmare, or whatever other reason he might be needed by the two.

In Skye's room, the walls were a darkish red, with one wall covered in chalkboard paint. She had immediately run over to it and picked up a piece of chalk and started drawing on it. When Coulson looked closer, he realized that she was drawing a computer hard drive. Coulson chuckled. The dark wooden bed frame had a full size mattress, which had a red and green comforter and black and green sheets. Coulson left the room to check on Ward. The specialist's room was primarily black and grey; with light grey walls, a black bed frame and a full size mattress with black and blue sheets, and, again, a chalkboard paint wall. In one corner of the room, a small children's chair was sitting beside a black bookcase which matched his bed, and a desk was in another corner on the other side of the room.

Leo's room was similar to his biochemist counterpart; with a bed made of light pine wood and a full size mattress with monkeys on the sheets, and a jungle themed comforter. The walls, unlike Jemma's, were a light green, and a matching pine bookshelf was packed with books of all natures; mechanics books, math books, early learning books, as well as a pop up book of monkeys(Fitz insisted that it be read to him multiple times, despite being completely capable of reading it himself). Just like the rest of the kids' rooms, one wall was coated in chalkboard paint. In Jemma's room, the walls were light purple, and there was a matching purple carpet. Just like her male counterpart, there was a bookshelf lined row after row of books about biology, famous scientists and their discoveries, early learning books, and a few fantasy books as well. Her pine colored bed had a purple comforter and light grey bed sheet set. In another corner, there was a desk with a spinning chair. The surface was nearly blank, other than a computer(courtesy of Iron Man, or, as more commonly known, the arrogant jackass billionaire) from Stark industries, a journal, a few notebooks, and some pens and pencils. Fitz had one as well, but his was far more cluttered; blueprints were already spread all over it, notebooks that presumably had already been filled by the adult Fitz, full of plans, calculations, numbers, and very complex math problems. Months of research were documented in there, as well as countless observations of the world around him(there were deadass _so many monkeys_ ), and a smaller amount of formulas for experiments that he and Jemma had conducted in years' past. The young boy was on the dark green carpeted floor, humming as he leafed through the pages of a quantum physics journal from some famous scientist in the early '30s. May's room was just like her: simple. A queen sized bed was in the center of the room, with basic black and white sheets and a grey comforter. The walls were blank, and the dresser was still empty. May was calmly emptying her suitcase into it, and she sighed when she realized that she would probably have to take the kids shopping for clothes and such. They would also probably need groceries as well. _Awesome._


	7. Chapter 7

The following day, Phil and May decided that they needed at the very least the basics; kids' clothes, some groceries, and some appliances for the kitchen- because _naturally_ , the house came with a Wii, but no coffee machine. So, with a SHIELD issued credit card, four rowdy kids, and two impatient senior agents, and of course, on top of it all, an entire mall full of people- and distractions. Oh, this should be good.

The six pulled into the mall's parking lot, the four kids bouncing in place.

"If you behave, you get ice cream," May bribed.

"And if not, no new toys, and no ice cream," Coulson warned. The four settled down as the doors to the van opened, hopping out and waiting patiently for the two agents.

"Clothes, first?" Melinda suggested.

"Alright. You take the girls, I take the boys?" Coulson asked.

"Sounds good. We meet at the fountain in front at," May paused to look at her watch, "maybe 2?"

"Alright, let's go, guys!" Coulson announced. Ward had instinctively gone over to Skye, but Phil shook his head.

"Skye is going with Melinda," he explained, taking Grant's hand and tugging him along. Skye reached out as well, but she, too was pulled away. Finally, the group ended up in the kids' section of Target.

"Okay, let's start with pajamas," Melinda announced. "Both of you pick four pairs." Jemma and Skye nodded and hurried off.

"Can I have this?" Jemma asked, showing Melinda the Elsa and Olaf nightgown.

"Sure," Melinda smiled. "Just put it in the cart." Jemma nodded and put it in before going off to find more. "Skye, how's it coming?"

"Are you sure?" Skye asked cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I really don't want you to spend money on me," Skye explained softly.

"It's alright, Skye. Besides, you _need_ clothes, you can't just wear the ones from the orphanage."  
"It worked just fine last time," Skye said, shrugging.

"Alright, how about I help you, and you can show me what you like?" The frustrated SHIELD agent suggested.

"I guess if I really do need it, then okay."

"Alright, let's go," Melinda said, pushing the cart. Jemma had, without Melinda noticing, put in three more sets of pajamas; there was the nightgown that Melinda had agreed to, a new set of sweatpants and a plain grey shirt, a black shirt with a chemistry joke (What do you do with a sick scientist? Below it answered with "If you can't helium, you can't curium, then you might as well barium," Melinda thought it was rather morbid, after Jemma had explained the joke,) black leggings, and a matching set of thicker pajamas, per Melinda's suggestion, because winter would be coming soon, with a long sleeve shirt with a snowflake and matching silk bottoms with the same repeated design.

"Can I get this?" Skye asked, holding up a set of Iron Man pajamas.

"Of course, just _never_ let Tony see those. His ego's already big enough." May shook her head.

"Okay," Skye said with a shrug.

"What else?"

"Why don't you get this, Skye?" Jemma asked, holding up a white nightgown.

"Okay! It's really pretty!" Skye exclaimed.

"Okay!" Jemma called back as she came over to put it in the cart. Skye picked it up to feel the fabric. It was _so_ soft. Finally, they decided on a pair of a grey t-shirt and a matching set of leggings, and a light blue pair of footies that Skye liked because it matched her name- it was the color of the sky.

"Okay, now let's get you some day clothes!" May announced.

"How much can we get?" Jemma asked excitedly.

"Yeah, what's the budget?" Skye added.

"There is none," Melinda replied, confused as to why a four year old of all people was asking such a question, although May was happy that Skye was being responsible, and that she understood the value of money.

"Really?" Skye asked with wide eyes.

"Yep, get what you want," May confirmed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Skye. You need this."

"Okay," Skye said hesitantly.

Apparently, Coulson was having a lot more luck with Leo and Grant. They flew through the four pairs of pajamas each; primarily just shirts and sweatpants, and they quickly moved onto day clothes.

"Each of you get nine shirts and at least three jeans, and some joggers probably wouldn't hurt either," Phil ordered.

Grant and Leo rushed off to find the clothes while Coulson waited at the cart, answering some emails on his phone.

"Okay, we're done!" Leo announced, dumping ten shirts, mostly just plain, but a few had simple designs or writing, and four pairs of blue or black jeans into the cart. Grant followed suit, dropping eight shirts and three pairs of jeans, all simple, blank, with little to no designs, into the cart.

"Now formal. Two shirts each, two pairs of slacks, and one tie," Phil announced once again, sending the two boys over to find what they needed.

"Okay, how about this, Jemma?" Melinda asked frustratedly.

"Too pink," Jemma said, shaking her head.

"Jem, please hurry, I'm hungry, we've been doing this for, like, twenty minutes," Skye complained.

"Have not," Jemma shot back.

"Ms. May, what time is it?" Skye asked, moving around her friend to look at May.

"It's 12:51," Melinda announced, reading her watch.

"Okay, let's do the math, shall we?" Skye offered snarkily. "We got here at roughly 11: 55, and it took almost thirty minutes to find pajamas, another ten to find you after you wandered off, and, so far, _twenty_ goddamn minutes for you to pick out not even _half_ of what you're supposed to get! I've been done for 10 minutes, Jem!" Skye exclaimed.

"Wow, that's like… _a lot_ of math, how do you even know how to tell time?" Jemma demanded.

"I remember everything up until about fifteen years old, including the lessons I learned in school," she explained.

"Cool, I don't really remember much of anything." Jemma shrugged.

"Alas, I still have no _freaking_ clue how to read!" While she and Skye talked, Jemma had been going through some shirts.

"Ooh, can I get this!" She asked Melinda excitedly.

"Okay, put it in the cart."

"Yay!" Jemma squealed. "Ooh, this one's cute, too!" She exclaimed, holding up a white blouse.

"Jem, what about this?" Skye offered, holding up a shirt with two beakers, one was foaming and bubbling, while the other was saying, "Dude, I think you're overreacting." The young scientist laughed and said,

"Put it in the cart."

"'Kay," Skye said, dropping it in.

As they talked back and forth, Jemma and Skye combined found the scientist five shirts, three skirts, two pairs of leggings, and two pairs of jeans.

"School clothes?" Melinda asked. Jemma nodded, holding up the white blouse, a navy blue cardigan, a navy pleated skirt, and knee high navy socks. "Very good," May said, nodding. "Skye?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt. I don't do uniforms. Been there, done that. I learned that I really don't look good in plaid," Skye said, grimacing.

"I don't think it's even _possible_ to look good in plaid," Jemma said, laughing. Skye laughed as well.

"Except maybe Beyonce, that woman looks good in _everything_ ," Skye chuckled. Jemma laughed as she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, now, how about formal?" Melinda asked.

"On it," Skye announced. She and Jemma rushed over to the dresses.

"Look at this, it would look _so_ cute on you!" Jemma gushed, holding up a black, almost floor length dress with a red ribbon.

"Ooh, can we get it? Please?" Skye asked May hopefully.

"Of course," May said, nodding.

"Okay, how about this, for you?" Skye asked, holding up a knee length white and gold dress.

"Okay!" Jemma smiled.

"What about this, Skye?" May offered, holding up a dark red knee length dress. It was simple, with no designs. Skye thought about it for a second.

"Okay!" Skye agreed.

"Feel it," May urged, holding out the bottom.

"It's so soft!" Jemma squealed.

"It's almost like silk," Skye agreed.

"Do you like it, Jemma?" May asked. The scientist nodded profusely. "Good, I think they have one in your size!"

"Really?!" The two rifled through the rack before Jemma held up a medium sized dress. "Found it!" She exclaimed proudly.

"Very good. Now, we need to get some shoes," May said, gesturing the two girls over to the kids shoes area. The two giggled.  
"C'mon, Miss May!" Skye said excitedly. She didn't realize it, but, when she turned around, she accidentally bumped into a two year old boy and knocked him down. The contact also made Skye fall and bump her head on the little boy's mother's cart.

"Ow," Skye sniffled, rubbing the growing bump.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" The woman panicked, reaching out to help her up. Skye noticed this and started sobbing, making the woman grimace. The little boy got up and rushed over to his mother.

"Are you okay, Danny?" The woman asked, checking for injuries.

"I'm okay," Danny confirmed.

"Skye!" May said, running over. "Are you okay? What happened?" She demanded."Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss, but it appears that my son wasn't paying attention and knocked her over. They both fell, but your daughter accidentally hit her head on my cart. I went to help her up, but she only cried harder. I really hope I didn't hurt her," the woman said.

"Oh, Skye's not my biological daughter. My husband, Phil, and I decided to foster her," May lied.

"Oh, well, congratulations!"

"Thank you," May said kindly. "She's been in the foster system her whole life, and she's unfortunately seen so much more than a four year old should," May said sadly.

"Oh, how terrible! The things people do to children… absolutely disgusting," the woman said, shaking her head.

"Unfortunately, that's quite true," May agreed. Skye had gotten up and walked over to May, who picked her up.

"I'm sorry, Miss May," Skye sniffled.

"Oh, honey, it wasn't your fault, it wasn't _anyone's_ fault," May said softly.

"Danny, come over here," the woman said.

"Yes, mummy?" He asked.

"Please, apologize to the little lady you hurt," she scolded.

"I'm sorry," the boy said guiltily.

"Oh, that's alright, Danny. It wasn't your fault either," May said reassuringly. "Did he get hurt?"

"Oh, no, he's fine, but right now I'm more worried about your little girl," she replied, glancing at the crying hacker.

"Mary, there you are!" A middle aged man said, rushing over. "Danny ran away-" he stopped when he saw the little girl.

"Danny knocked her over when he was running to me," Mary said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't think he would run off like that-"

"Oh, no worries. Jemma, come over here," May said, waving over the nine year old girl.

"Yes? Is Skye alright?" Jemma asked slowly.

"Yes, she'll be fine, but, just in case, I'm going to go see if the restaurant over there has any ice for the bump. In the meantime, Phil is right over there with the boys, could you please go with the cart over to them and have Phil help you find some shoes?"

"Okay," Jemma said, pushing the cart over to Phil, Leo, and Grant.

"My husband," May explained.

"Oh, and who are the boys?" Mary asked curiously.

"Well, the younger one is my son, Grant, and his brother, Leo," May said.

"I see, well, we really should be off, and you really should get that ice on that bump of hers," Mary suggested.

"Of course. It was nice meeting you, Mary," May said, smiling.

"You, too… I'm sorry I never got your name," Mary apologized.

"Oh, my name is Melinda," May replied.

"Well, in that case, it was nice meeting you, Melinda. I hope to see you again, though, hopefully in some less.. Painful circumstances."

"Of course." May smiled politely. "Now, let's go get you some ice," May said, inspecting her head as she walked.

"Excuse me, sir," May said, getting the attention of the man behind the counter of the pizzeria.

"Yes, miss- oh, is she alright?" The man asked, concerned.

"Actually, while we were in Target she bumped her head. I was wondering if you have any ice to put on the bump?" May asked hopefully.

"Of course, we actually keep ice packs in the freezer, just in case. I'll go get one," the man said as he walked behind the wall into the kitchen. A moment later, the man came back, holding a gel ice pack in one hand. "Here you go," he said, holding it out.

"Thank you, so much," May said gratefully.

"Miss May!" Jemma called, running over breathlessly.

"What's wrong?" May asked.

"And who is this little lady?" the man asked.

"Oh, I'm Jemma!" The little scientist exclaimed, waving happily.

"Jemma, what's wrong?"

"Phil freaked out, he thinks she got kidnapped or something!" She panted.

"Seems like you're having a pretty rough day, Miss. May," the man behind the counter said. He wrote something down and handed it to her. "How about, once you get everything sorted, you get something to eat, for the family? On the house, of course," he offered.

"Oh, thank you, so much!" May said gratefully, taking the note. "I'll be sure to take you up on that offer, Mr…"

"Bianchi," he finished. "Rico Bianchi."

"Well, thank you, very much, Mr. Bianchi," May said, leading Jemma out of the restaurant and back into the store. She went over to Phil and set Skye down on one of the benches in the shoe aisle. "Hold this to your head," May ordered calmly, handing Skye the ice pack. Skye nodded in understanding, still sniffling.

"What happened?" Phil demanded.

"She got knocked over by a two year old. She's still so small and light that she fell so hard after bumping into someone _half her age_. She fell and knocked her head on the boy's mother's cart. I went into the restaurant over there and got an ice pack."'

"Is the boy okay?" He asked worriedly.

"He's fine, Skye's the one I'm worried about." May frowned. "Anyway, let's get this done with so we can get home," She announced.

"Good idea," Phil agreed. Once again, the group split up.

"Okay, let's start with you, Jemma," May said, kneeling.

"I'm a size 2 ½," Jemma announced.

"Alright," May said. "How about you get one pair of sneakers," she started, "one pair of snow boots, one pair of rainboots, two pairs of flats or formal shoes, and one pair of school shoes."

"Got it," Jemma said, nodding her head. She started with the sneakers, going over to that section and picking her top two favorites. She went over to Melinda and showed her the first: a pair of Twinkle Toes: Shuffles. The second pair was also from Sketchers; Sketch-Air Jumparounds.

"Why don't we just get both?" Melinda suggested."Okay!" Jemma said excitedly. For the rain/snow boots they decided on a pair of simple black boots that went up to about mid-calf with fur inside. The flats were also black, with two little black bows. The school shoes were shiny black Mary Janes, which, though Melinda would never tell the excited little girl, looked overall _kind of_ like a uniform, and also _kind of_ nerdy. They moved onto Skye, who was starting to feel better, who chose all black; black Converse sneakers, black leather boots, and black flats. Surprisingly, Melinda quite liked that about Skye; she kept it simple, nothing too flashy, but nothing too bland. They had everything they needed, so they headed over to the checkout. In doing so, they passed the toy aisles. May thought for a moment. _Well, we did say that they could get toys if they behaved well…_

"How about the two of you go pick out some toys?" She suggested.

"REALLY?!" Jemma shouted, waving her hands around.

"Jemma, Jem!" Skye said loudly, grabbing one of her friend's hands.

"You keep doin' weird junk like that, the adults will make you take medications," she said slowly.

"Sorry," Jemma said sheepishly. She ran down the aisle, looking at everything with wide eyes.

"Do you want anything?" Melinda asked the bored young hacker.

"Nah. I _needed_ the clothes, just like I _need_ food. I _don't_ need toys," Skye stated bluntly.

"Oh," Melinda replied, taken aback by her bluntness.

"Sorry, but it's true." Skye shrugged.

"Are you sure? Not even a puzzle, or a stuffed animal?"

"I guess a puzzle or two wouldn't hurt, for if I got bored," Skye admitted thoughtfully. "Alright," she decided. "I'll get a puzzle."

"Good," Melinda agreed. "Now, go! I'm hungry!" She said, shooing her off hurriedly. Jemma came back, holding a child's chemistry set, a build your own robot kit-"For Leo," Jemma had explained.-, a box of K'Nex, and some legos. Lovely, just lovely, those are gonna be _fun_ to clean up, May had thought when she saw the legos. Skye came back with a single puzzle, an image of the Titanic, and a stuffed wolf.

"Can I please get him?" She asked softly. "I don't want you to spend any extra money or anything, but he's so… soft," Skye sighed.

"Of course, you behaved well, you earned it," Melinda said.

"Thank you, Miss May," Skye said gratefully.

"You are very welcome." They rang up right after, with the total coming to almost $800. Skye's jaw dropped.

"Whoa…" she started.

"That's _a lot_ of money," Jemma finished.

"It's alright, girls. I'm not paying," Melinda laughed, winking at them.

"Who is, then?"

"SHIELD," Melinda told them.

"Cool," Jemma said, shrugging.

"Yep," Melinda agreed. She felt her phone beep in her pocket, it was a text from Coulson.

"We're done, at the meeting point. How much longer?" She replied quickly, "Just finished at the checkout be there soon."

She rushed the two girls out with their bags and hurried them over to the meeting point where Grant, Leo, and Phil were all waiting impatiently.

"Miss May?" Jemma asked, looking up at the SHIELD agent.

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry. May we please get something to eat?" The biochemist asked politely.

"Of course. C'mon, I know the perfect place." She led them to the restaurant that she got the ice pack from.


	8. Chapter 8

The team walked back inside and the kids all rushed their separate ways.

"Leo, come back here," Jemma wailed, chasing her best friend, who had stolen one of the stuffed animals that had totally slipped through May's vision while they were ringing up at the store.

"I called dibs first!" Phil and May heard Skye shout from the living room.

"Did not!" Grant shouted back. Phil rushed in to intervene.

"Why are you two arguing?" He asked calmly.

"I told him that I wanted to use the Wii first, but then he grabbed the remote!" Skye explained angrily, glaring at the shrunken specialist.

"She never told me that she wanted to use it!" Grant defended.

"I specifically told you, _Grant, I want to use the Wii first_ ," Skye said loudly.

"Enough," Phil said sternly.

"Fine," Grant sighed. He shoved the remote into the impatient hacker's hands, who smirked and nodded.

"Thank you," she said sarcastically.

"Skye," Phil warned. The girl in question rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she huffed.

"Alright, I'm going to run to the grocery store to get food. Any suggestions?" Melinda announced.

"Ooh, can we get spaghetti?" Jemma asked excitedly.

"With meatballs?" Leo added with wide eyes.

"What about you two?" Phil asked, looking at the two youngest kids.

"Anything's fine," Skye replied, shrugging.

"Grant?" Phil asked, turning to the boy.

"Yeah, sure. Spaghetti and meatballs sounds fine."

"Alright!" Melinda said loudly.

"Anything else?" Phil asked.

"We should probably just get the basics for now; we can get the rest later," Melinda suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Melinda got in the car, pulling out of the driveway of the large house.

An hour later, the SHIELD agent returned, arms full with groceries.

"Can someone help get the rest of the groceries?" Melinda asked.

"Kids, help her with the groceries!" Phil called from his seat on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV.

"Coming!" One of the girls called back. The sound of four sets of tiny feet pattered against the wooden stairs and rushed out to the car. Moments later, the stampede came running back in with arms full of groceries, May following right behind.

"How was the store?" Phil asked, raising an eyebrow at the frustrated Melinda May.

"Awful," she huffed.

"Elaborate?"

"I had one kid run into me because he thought I was his mother, who was standing right next to me. Then, while I was trying to check out, the lady in front of me was taking _forever_ to finish because she was talking to someone on her phone while she dug through her purse to find her wallet! When I asked her to speed up, she whacked me with her purse, and I couldn't fight back because she's like, eighty!" May exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Well, I'd say that was a pretty successful trip, don't you?" Phil asked jokingly.

"Don't you start with me Coulson," May warned. Phil raised his hands in surrender.

"Is that everything?" Skye asked Jemma as the two walked through the door.

"No, I think I saw a few more bags in the middle seats."

"Ugh, _more_ bags?" Skye whined. "Actually," Skye said slowly, looking at Jemma, who nodded in understanding. The two shouted at once, "Grant, Leo, more bags in the car!"

"Why _us_?" Leo groaned.

"Because reasons," Skye snickered. Leo and Grant huffed, their shoulders sagging in defeat. The girls looked at each other and giggled.

Eventually, after all the bags had been brought inside, the "family" gathered in the kitchen to watch Melinda and Phil cook.

"Dinner is served!" Phil announced proudly. He spread everything out on the table and allowed the rowdy kids to take what they wanted. He and Melinda sat down themselves and served themselves food.

"Skye, slow down," Melinda warned, looking on in disgust as the hacker shoveled pasta in her mouth.

"Sorry," Skye said, though it was muffled by the food still in her mouth.

"Grant, stop stabbing the plate!" Phil scolded, grabbing Grant's fork midair.

"Fine," Grant muttered.

"Jemma, why are you- y'know what, I don't want to know," Melinda said, shaking her head as she watched the young biochemist count the pieces of pasta on her fork.

"I'm curious," Jemma said defensively.

"Just eat!" Melinda exclaimed in frustration. Jemma grumbled but obeyed.

By the end of dinner, the table was a mess; knocked over salt and pepper shakers, pasta everywhere, napkins cluttering up space. Melinda stared in amazement.

"How- we didn't even _eat_ broccoli!" She exclaimed, holding up a stem of broccoli in her hand.

"Wow, you need a bath," Phil muttered, looking at the four kids covered in sauce.

"Who wants to go first?" Melinda asked.

"Leo!" Three of the four kids exclaimed, pointing at the confused mechanic.

"Wha- I- no!" He said.

"Too late!" Skye giggled.

Melinda looked at the group and smiled mischievously. "We have three bathrooms."

"Separate! They can only chase two at a time!" Skye shouted. All four kids spread out around the house, laughing maniacally.


	9. Chapter 9

Skye sat crankily on her bed, dressed in joggers and a t-shirt while Melinda, also in a rather terrible mood, dried off after giving Skye a bath.

"Should've worn a bathing suit," she muttered as she tried to dry her dripping hair.

"Oops," Skye said sweetly, but her face made it clear that she had no remorse for soaking her teammate's hair. Melinda glared at the unconcerned four year old out of the corner of her eyes. A couple seconds later, a freshly cleaned Jemma wandered into Skye's room.

"I was wondering what your room would look like," Jemma announced as she looked around the young hacker's room. The chalkboard paint still had the drawing of the computer hard drive drawn on, and the red and green comforter and black and green sheets had been long since messed up. Clothes were already cluttered on her desk chair and books were piled high on the desk itself, ranging from small, cute picture books all the way to elaborate detailed explanations on computer hard drives and codings.

"It's really messy," Jemma commented. Skye shrugged carelessly.

"And?"  
"Nothing, just pointing it out," Jemma said.

"So, why are you in here?" Skye asked curiously.

"I just wanted to check it out," she replied.

"Okay."

"I'm going to bed," Jemma announced.

"Jem, it's 8:30," Skye stated in amazement.

"I know."

"So then why are you-" Skye paused. "Y'know what, I don't want to know." She shook her head.

"It's called being _well rested_ , Skye," Jemma said.

"Whatever," Skye replied, raising her hands in mock surrender. "Sweet dreams, chica."

"Do you know spanish?" May asked.

"I know a lot of different languages, not necessarily _fluently_ , but enough to understand people and hold a conversation," Skye explained.

"Cool!" Jemma exclaimed. "I wish _I_ knew other languages." Skye shrugged.

"I've lived in a lot of places with a lot of different languages spoken. It's easier to communicate if you can understand them."

"Well, now you're here!" Jemma smiled excitedly. "You're with us now!" She hugged Skye as hard as she could, sending Skye into a daydream-like state, with her eyes glossed over and filled with tears.

"She didn't do anything! Don't hurt her!" Skye screamed suddenly. Jemma, startled, released her and backed up.  
"What's wrong with her?" Jemma asked nervously.

"I-I don't know." Melinda shook her head.

"NO! LET THEM GO! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! IT WAS ME, PUNISH ME NOT THEM!" The young hacker sobbed, falling to her knees. Her hands went over her ears. "Please, stop," she whimpered. "They can't take much more," she whimpered, curling up in the fetal position, leaving her trembling and sobbing on the carpeted floor. Melinda panicked.

"Phil!" She called down the hall after poking her head out the door. Phil came out of his room hurriedly.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"Skye, she- she freaked after Simmons hugged her." Melinda shifted uncomfortably, gesturing to the still crying little girl. "I don't know what happened, she just started screaming about " _them"_ , whoever " _them"_ may be. She was telling someone to stop hurting them and she broke down on the floor, covering her ears with her hands as though trying to block out silent screams."

"Alright," Phil sighed, walking over to the hacker's bedroom. "Skye?" He spoke softly as he slowly approached the hysterical young girl. She only shook harder, but her her sobs had been reduced to whimpers and soft begging through gentle tears. "Skye, what's wrong?" Phil asked gently.

"They hurt us," she choked quietly.

"You're safe now, Skye," Jemma said reassuringly, sitting down beside her friend. "We won't hurt you, I promise."

"That's what they all say, and then they hurt me." Skye trembled but managed to get up into a sitting position.

"But we're different. We mean it, with all of our hearts," Jemma said soothingly. "As long as you're here, no one will touch you, I promise." Skye cried harder as she shoved everyone out of her path and ran down the stairs, right out the front door.

"Skye!" Melinda shouted.

"What's going on?" Phil demanded.

"Where's Skye?" Fitz- Leo, Melinda reminded herself- added.

"She ran out the front door!" Jemma cried.

"What?" Grant asked loudly.

"Everyone get your coats on, we're going looking!" Melinda announced. Soon, the other three kids were bundled up in their coats and they, along with Melinda and Phil, were out searching for the hacker, hoping to find her and bring her home, to her family- her new one, where she was loved.


	10. Chapter 10

"Skye?" Melinda yelled as she picked her way through the forested area around the house.

"Excuse me," Phil started after knocking on a neighbor's door.

"It's almost 11. What do you want?" The woman asked grouchily.

"My daughter, she- she ran off and we've been looking for almost two hours. Have you seen her?"

"How old is she?" The woman asked, suddenly awake.

"She's four. About 3 feet," he replied.

"I haven't seen her," the woman said apologetically.

"That's fine, thank you." Phil smiled sadly. The woman closed the door. He sighed and moved onto the next house, the same conversation on loop. About twenty minutes later, four house doors opened with people dressed in boots, jeans, and jackets, equipped with flashlights.

"Have you found her?" One woman asked Phil, who shook his head.

"It's like she disappeared." Phil grimaced.

"Do you have any pictures of her?" A man asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Phil said as he reached in his pocket. He unfolded the piece of paper and handed it to him. "It's the picture from her file from the orphanage," he explained. "We adopted her last week. She had some sort of meltdown after Jemma hugged her and she bolted out the front door."

"Poor girl, she must be scared out of her mind right now," A woman said sadly.

"We're gonna find her, right?" Jemma asked as she came over.

"Oh, honey of course we are," the woman said soothingly.

"But what if we don't?" She cried.

"We will, Jemma, I promise," Phil said reassuringly.

"How do you know?" Jemma asked as she cried harder.

"Phil, I think I found something!" Melinda called from in front of the forest.

"What? What is it?" He demanded as he ran over.

"A piece of her jacket, it must've been torn when she came running through here and it got snagged on the branch," Melinda said as she picked up the piece of fabric from the branch. They went in deeper, following a small track cleared of branches, plants, and trees that had been shoved out of the way frantically. They found her in a clearing, shaking from the cold and covered in cuts and scratches.

"What happened, Skye?" Phil asked quietly.

"Coyotes." She whimpered from the pain. "They were mean but they were so skinny. I felt so bad. They were hungry. I know how that feels."

"Oh, good grief, we've been asking the city council to do something for _months_ about those little menaces." Mrs. McKenna sighed and shook her head.

"They're only trying to survive," Skye said defensively.

"But they attacked you, Skye," Phil said confusedly. She shrugged. Mrs. McKenna came a little closer to inspect the cuts and slash marks.

"Well, I suppose it is a very good thing that I'm a nurse," she said. She led Skye and Phil into her house and to the bathroom and waited for him to put her on the counter. She pulled out her First Aid kit and took out some antiseptic pads. "Okay, this is going to sting a little."


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Skye sat at the kitchen table without a care in the world as she waited for her breakfast to be ready. She was still adjusting to the concept of being able to have food whenever she wanted, and it was even harder for her to eat it slowly because somewhere, in the back of her mind, she thought that she would have it taken away and get beaten if she tried to take any more. It affected her appetite a lot, she was still scared to ask for more. She was also still underweight, still at about half of what it should be. Jemma was sitting across from her and asking her different questions, like:

"How did you learn how to be so good with computers?" Or, "Can you hack Cybertek?" Skye looked at her quizzically.

"Why do you want me to hack Cybertek?" She frowned.

"Because they're doing a lot of experiments and stuff and I wanna see their research. It may help me finish my own experiments when I get older again," she explained. She thought for a moment. "I wonder if they're doing experiments with hydrochloric acid."

"Jem, you look constipated." Skye snickered.

"It's my thinking face!" She said defensively.

"Really? So, were you having a deep existential crisis when I accidentally walked in on you on the toilet last night?"

"Maybe." Jemma looked down awkwardly. "Miss May?" She asked, trying to redirect everyone's focus from Skye's question.

"What's up, Simmons?"  
"When's breakfast gonna be ready?"

"In about five minutes. Can you go get the boys?" Jemma and Skye looked at each other mischievously.

"Sure," Skye said slowly, smirking as she and Jemma crept up the stairs. Melinda looked at their retreating figures weirdly. Skye banged Grant's door open. "Rise and shine, sunshine!" She yelled as she opened the curtains on the other side of the room. He moaned with agony at the light.

"Close it!"

"Get up." Grant turned over and glared at her sleepily.

"You're a terrible person," he growled as he climbed out of his bed.

"I can live with that." In the next room over, Leo's room, Jemma was singing (surprisingly well, actually) like she was in a Disney movie. She opened the windows and breathed in the fresh air.

"Time for breakfast, Leo!" Jemma announced happily. He opened his eyes but quickly closed them again because of the bright light coming from outside.

"Noo!" He moaned as he rolled over and onto his stomach. "Five more minutes!"  
"Leo, get up!" Jemma exclaimed. "Miss May is making pancakes!"  
"Save some for me," he grumbled before starting to snore again.

"Leo, honestly, it's a miracle you've ever managed to accomplish anything with the amount of time you spend sleeping!" She tugged his arm gently. "Leo, get up!" She repeated. He groaned and rolled over, falling onto the floor with a grunt.

"Ow," he mumbled.

"I got attacked by coyotes. You fell off a bed. You'll live, Fitz," Skye said, rolling her eyes as she walked by the door and into Phil's room. "Psst, Phil," she whispered, getting onto the large bed. "Hey, Phil, Phil, guess what?" She poked him.

"Whaddya want?" He slurred tiredly.

"Phil, hey, hey Phil," Skye repeated. "Phil, Phil, come on, get up!"

He opened his eyes and blinked groggily. "I'm up. Now stop poking me." He got out of his bed with a thud. When they all got downstairs, Skye and Jemma resumed their positions at the table with the three boys stumbling behind.

"Hey, you should've been extras in Michael Jackson's video for Thriller," Melinda said jokingly as she sipped her coffee. Skye and Jemma snickered. "You would've fit right in!" Phil scowled as he plopped down at a chair. Grant did the same, but he was so tired he didn't realize that he had sat on top of Jemma.

"Get off me!" She complained, trying to push him off.

"This chair has a british accent," he mumbled.

"No, the person you're SITTING ON has a british accent!" Jemma finally managed to shove him off.

"This chair is rude." He got up and sat down next to her. Melinda put down her coffee and started passing out the pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She put the rest down on a large plate in the middle of the table before sitting down and taking some for herself.

When Phil took a bite, he said, "What recipe did you use?"

"Uh, the one on the box," she answered with a scoff.

"Coulda just said you used the mix." Phil rolled his eyes as he took another bite. Skye was the first one to finish, as usual. She was obviously hungry but still hesitant to take more.

"Take some more," Melinda urged. "You need the nutrition." Skye looked up at Melinda then at the plate. She reached out and quickly grabbed two more pancakes, dropping them on her plate and glancing up at Melinda nervously. She was surprised to see her not even looking.

"Not even a slap on the face," Skye mumbled to herself. "Nothing."

"Did you say something?" Phil asked, turning to her and immediately after shoving another piece of bacon in his mouth.

"No," Skye replied, forcing a smile. He nodded and returned to his food.

"So," Jemma started excitedly, "about Cybertek..." Skye groaned and dropped her head on the table.


	12. Chapter 12

Melinda and Phil, who had, after Skye's accident with the coyotes, reluctantly agreed to allow them to play in the expansive backyard- as long as they all stayed out of the woods and stayed together, were standing on the back porch, sitting on two wooden chairs.

"I _love_ this house. I'm never going back to my apartment again!" Phil exclaimed when they fully scanned the backyard without looking for a runaway deaged 4 year old hacker and discovered that there was a pool (and a hot tub!) in kind of like a greenhouse but with glass walls and a roof, complete with year round access, (smartly, because the property belonged to SHIELD) bulletproof windows, and a top of the line self cleaning and heating system. Most of the yard was either empty or had playground stuff, like a jungle gym, monkey bars, a slide, swings, etc. Skye was on the swingset, which had two swings, a baby seat (every second of every day they were here they thanked God that none of them had become a baby), and a gymnastics bar thing. Skye was hanging upside down and swinging slowly while she closed her eyes. Jemma and Fitz were watching Skye in both equal surprise and awe.

"Newton's Law of Gravity," Jemma whispered to herself.

"Phil, Skye broke science!" Leo cried.

"Or maybe she's just good at that," Phil said sarcastically. "She's probably concentrating or something." Skye yawned and opened her eyes.

"Why'd y'all wake me up?" She asked tiredly. Jemma and Leo looked at Phil with wide eyes.

"Skye, you broke physics!" Jemma whined. Skye grabbed the bar on either side of her and gracefully flipped back onto the ground, landing perfectly on her feet.

"Jem, physics is not a physical thing. Therefore, I couldn't have 'broken physics', as you ever so scientifically put it," Skye said, rolling her eyes and stretching, cracking her back.

"Ew," Jemma said, scrunching her nose. Skye just shrugged and went over to a regular swing, sitting down and starting to move back and forth. Jemma looked at her with surprise. "Why are you so good at everything? It's not fair!" She pouted.

"Because unlike you, who grew up focusing completely on academic endeavors, I grew up drifting from place to place. It never really gave me the opportunity to put so much attention into learning from books and teachers at a school. I learned from experiencing things." She shrugged. "Growing up like I did, you tend to need certain skills, like how to eat quickly without vomiting because it's wasting perfectly good food. Or, how to climb, how to run quickly, how to guilt people into giving you what you need to survive. Can you do any of that?" Jemma blinked.

"I never really needed to learn any of those things," she admitted awkwardly.

"Yeah. That's because you grew up with a mommy and a daddy and a white picket fence and a good school," Skye snapped. She got off the swing and stormed past a confused Phil and Melinda into the house.

"Our fence was actually red," Jemma muttered.

When Phil went inside to check on Skye, he first looked something up on his phone: a photo he had found when Skye had first worked with them. She hadn't erased _everything_ \- though she had done a pretty thorough job. Every time he looked at the picture he almost cried. Skye was four when this was taken; she had just been rescued by a few police officers from an abusive foster home where they had locked her up in a basement. The report estimated that she had been down there for almost two months. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin was deathly pale- so much so that you could see her veins. Her teeth were bared as she backed away into a corner, trying to protect herself from them. Around her was urine and feces, her clothes were torn, bloody, and covered in what was all over the floor. Her face, arms, and any other exposed body part had either burns, bruises, or poorly sanitized and mostly infected cuts. Her clothes hung off of her frail, bony body and her hair was limp and greasy.

 _Est. 4 year old unidentified caucasian female; brown hair, blue eyes, 25 pounds,_ _2ft. 4in._

"Skye?" He asked softly as he entered the room. "Are you okay?" When her head whipped towards him to glare, he finally saw the little girl that was in the pictures: scared, fragile and broken. She wasn't the rebellious, goofy hacker that he had come to love like a daughter, she was a scared four year old. He didn't know what broke his heart more: knowing that she's suffered so much in her life, or the fact that she was so numb to the concept of being alone that she no longer cried. She just sat next to the window, staring out blankly and emotionlessly. She was _numb_. And that's what made her so dangerous.

Phil had tried to talk to her, but she was having none of it. The entire time he spoke, she continued to stare aimlessly into space. Eventually he gave up.

"If you want to talk, you know where to find me," he had said before sighing and walking out of the room. It was almost 8:30 by then, and all the other kids were getting ready for bed (Jemma had started to get ready at 7, she claimed she wanted to be "well rested" for tomorrow). Skye however wasn't tired, so she decided to go look for the coyotes. It was extremely dangerous, yes, but Skye knew how to help them. She waited for almost two hours before everyone was finally asleep and put on her boots and jacket. She tiptoed into the kitchen and quietly opened the fridge. She thought, _There were four of them_ , so she grabbed a bunch of meat from the fridge, like the leftover bacon and Miss May's steak that she had already started making for tonight's dinner. She put it all in a large bag and slipped out the side door and into the woods in the backyard. She went back to the clearing and put all the food out before grabbing hiding underneath a bunch of bushes. She saw the coyotes come out slowly, sniffing the air and cautiously approaching the food on the ground. They looked around and, after sensing no one, started to eat. They ate all the food and laid down. Skye smiled and went back to the house.


	13. Explanation

The last story, the one that says "To be Deleted" is the one w/ the wolves. The new one is similar to that story, though this one focuses more on the growing relationship between family and friends. To summarize, the new story has nothing to do with magic, it's just about the characters and how they grow as a family. Unless people want it, the other story will either be deleted or finished where it is.


End file.
